Green things

By now, word has probably leaked around that the EtsyOrganicTeam is temporary closed for redirection, recentering, rebuilding, and a bunch of other re's. I've been working with Brenda, of NaturalStar, and Maura, of GreenWorks, and we've been making leaps towards a new, fresh start. Make sure to check back soon for an announcement that we're open and ready to roll!

Now for a few garden shots.

This is a flower on my asparagus pea vine. Look at the flower closely. Think. Giggle to yourself. Move on. :)


Here are some greenies. I believe this plant is a Black Zebra tomato, but I can't recall for sure. The hail didn't keep these guys too down, and they're putting out flowers and little tomatoes like crazy. With my luck this year, a hornworm will come along and gnaw them down.


This is a spontaneously occurring pumpkin. The vine put out this 10 lb (and growing!) beauty in a week. It's actually the variety of pumpkin that the Cindarella coach was modeled after, which is kinda neat. Can't wait for pumpkin custards!

GOLD Treasury

Thanks to sherilynne for adding my Teddy Bear sunflower seeds to this lovely treasury!

Demo, baby.

Progress is being made on my future mini farm! The demo will be completed by the end of the week, if all goes well, and I'll be able to start cleaning up and preparing for spring. I was hoping I'd be able to go out and chart light this week, but my poor toes are in too bad of shape to even think about that.

And no, I don't get to keep the awesome yellow machine.

TheSpottedBox

A few months ago, I decided to join up with the Spotted Box. I liked the eco-friendly, family-oriented focus and LOVE the great communication and involvement of the community. I just got my 'free' box yesterday, and I'm even more in love! Not only did everyone send in some fabulous promos, but I learned a TON about what good packaging is. I got a few ideas to give my promos a bit of mmph next month, too.

Here are some pictures from my Spotted Box experience. I've put text saying what and where things are from that aren't immediately obvious on some of the pictures. You should be able to click them and get better detail, if you'd like. I apologize for funky formatting ahead of time. :)

I can't wait to start trying things out!

Busy busy!

Despite the cooler weather and the rain we've been getting, I've managed to be pretty productive.

Yesterday and today I dug up a couple of plants and have evicted them from my gardens. Hurrah! I still have a bush I need to move, but it's not getting a one-way ticket out of here -- just a relocation.

The newest thing is that I've added a new product to my shop! It's called Moss Mousse Mix and it's something I've been using for a long time. I whipped up a batch and packaged it last night specifically for my shop, and I'm excited to have it available. It's ugly, but the results are great.

This is a just-add-water mix, which allows you to mix it as thin or as thick as you want. You can add extra water to dip baskets or rocks in, or you can mix it thick to slather on an upright surface.

And this is what you'll get:

I love moss!

BURD!

This little guy was hopping around on one of the trees in the front yard, confirming our suspicions that the tree is, indeed, dying (not that we needed a confirmation!). He was very shy and would hop around the other side of the tree every time I tried to open the storm door. I wish I could have gotten closer or, at least, gotten a snap of him without the branch in front of his head. Didn't happen.

It's cold!

It's finally gotten cold, here, and it looks like it's probably going to stay that way. I'm excited and I hope I get to see snow this year! I'm not holding my breath, but it'd sure be nice.

Our yellow tree is almost out of leaves, which is a bit sad. It starts turning first, holds onto it's lovely colors, and then fades out after every other tree. I should investigate and see what kind of tree it is, but it seems that I never get around to it until after the leaves have all fallen and then I don't know which it is! It looks quite striking between the pine trees.

Other than that, I seem to be recovering alright. It's only been a few days since the procedure and things are still pretty up and down, but I've definitely noticed some improvements. Being able to sleep through the night without being woken up a million times by a stopping/starting heart is really, really, really nice. We'll see what's happening in a month or so...

I made it out alive!

I'm back home and comfy after my heart surgery. Sadly, the procedure wasn't as successful as we'd have liked, but we'll know better what the course of action will be in a month or so.

For now, I'm thrilled to be home, and I've been pretty busy. I've redone a couple of listings, added a few new listings, and have been getting together more promos to send out for the next big rush.

I spent some time before I went into the hospital cutting and finishing a bunch of glass bottles, so I've been taking pictures and introducing these 'pinch' garden kits. The containers are small, so I've chosen seeds that do well in tight quarters for several months. Spicy Globe Basil, Fern Leaf Bleeding Heart, and Jewels of Opar are some of the selections I've made.

Things are slowing down.

Winter is obviously starting to set in. All of the trees are losing their leaves and plants have stopped their furious growth. I've been pulling in seeds, and I'll be lifting some of my cold-sensitive bulbs shortly. Entertainingly enough, everything is slowing down, but a handful of weeds are going insane.

Thursday (I skipped the 11th!) is the big day, and I hope I'll be back in fine form shortly after. Supposedly, the procedure is easy and has a fast recovery, so keep your fingers crossed that my heart is thumping the right way soon!

Today, while I was cleaning I found more of my business cards! I thought I was out, but I apparently just misplaced 100 of them. So, now I can staple together promos while I wait for my 1250 others to arrive.

I also ordered 100 post cards. I'm not going to mail them out and intend on using them on thank-you notes, actually. I normally use large note cards to write the thank you and tape seed packs to the back. These will be pretty and serve the same function. Woohoo!

'Black Pearl' Pepper

I've had this plant listed in my shop under it's botanical name, Capsicum annuum 'Black Pearl'. I changed it to 'Black Pearl' Pepper when I thought about it and realized that most people aren't going to know what the botanical name is. I've had more hits after changing it, so I'm patting myself for being clever. :)

This has been my favorite plant for several years, but I fall even more in love with it every autumn when I bring it in. The black, sparkly foliage is enough to make most people take a second glance and ask about it, and it's even more eye catching when it's covered with bright, red peppers.

It does wonderfully indoors in the winter and blooms and peppers all winter in my bright, south-facing window. That means that those tasty little balls end up in my soups and other dishes all winter!

End of harvest.

It's nearing the end of my harvest season, and I've been spending a lot of time sorting seeds, packaging seeds, and planning out next year.

New things for the week:

Seedpods! I sent some of these off to a friend to see what magic she could work with them. If anyone else wants them for whatever reason, I'd be happy to send some off to you. :)

My lawyer gave me the free-and-clear (and a handful of free templates found online with the same layout), so I also placed another business card order, today. I added another flavor to my stash, so I now have five different images. I hope to be able to continue adding variety.

Health news, my heart appears to be clear from obvious defects, so here's to hoping there'll be no exciting surprises during the surgery. I should be scheduling the procedure next week.

Summer is over.

Summer is obviously over. The nights and days are getting cooler, which I love, but it breaks my heart to see the bees that I spend all summer watching and cultivating a habitat for start to slow down.

That's how it goes, though. They'll be back next year, but I hate finding their fat, formerly busy bodies clinging to my flowers. :(

Just because it says 'mist'...

I got a new hose nozzle a couple of weeks ago and I'm loving it! It's very heavy duty, has great heft, and all of the settings are different and work like as they should. Even better, it was rather inexpensive!

Today, I went out to check on my flats of winter veggies and found that they needed a bit of moisture. I dragged over my hose, knocked my handy-dandy nozzle to mist, and went at it.

Just because it says 'mist', I learned, doesn't mean that it's a gentle mist. Yes, it mists, but I'm short and being only a couple feet away with the nozzle is a bit too much for tender little seedlings. I've been working on my technique and found that aiming the nozzle over, rather than at, the flats works much better and the little seedlings maintain their heads.

So far, arugula, some spinach, broccoli raab, buttercrunch lettuce, swiss chard, kohl rabi, and kale are all making an appearance. I wish the fennel was showing, but the seeds I found were old and hadn't been properly stored. I may go get some fresh seeds for this winter, if I'm feeling motivated!

Treasuries!

In honor of the More Meaningful Gifts BNR, jvdarcy set up this treasury. Thanks for including my violet photograph! Here it is!

Bug glamour shots

I love 'bugs' and, even though this isn't a true bug, I ended up taking about half a dozen glamour shots of this lovely who I know then crawled/hopped off to munch on my plants. There's a nice closeup of the body in my flickr that I may get printed for myself. I've got a purple wall that it would be fun against.

Garden photography

I don't fool myself into thinking that I'm a spectacular photographer, but I do, on occasion, take a nice picture. My etsy listings and blog are peppered with photographs ranging anywhere from awful to great, but I've had several questions over the past few months about whether or not I'd considered printing them for sale.

I was motivated today and was getting some of the pictures from my father's wedding printed, and I decided to add a few pictures that I've taken outside to my order. I'll be adding them to my etsy shop, hopefully, in the next couple of days, and we'll see what happens.

Here's a series that we be part of this experiment. I took these pictures on my catmint plant that seems to be an absolute playground for bumblebees. There were close to sixty when I was taking these pictures.

Etsy love - Share random acts of kindness that you've experienced from other etsy members!

About two weeks ago, I got a convo from someone complimenting me on my pictures. We had a bit of a chat and we were talking about my Rose of Sharon when she mentioned that she had a few herself. She sent me some pictures of her beautiful plants, of which I was very envious.

Well, the lovely lady was ennadoolf, a fellow Etsy seller, and she offered to send me some seeds of the two colors she had that I don't have! I got them in the mail last week and can't wait until they germinate.

Make sure to check out her shop and it's great assortment of dolls, accessories, patterns, and more!